Journal of neurology
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Journal of neurology · Feb 2007
Clinical TrialTremor reduction by subthalamic nucleus stimulation and medication in advanced Parkinson's disease.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has proved to be effective for tremor in Parkinson's disease (PD). Most of the recent studies used only clinical data to analyse tremor reduction. The objective of our study was to quantify tremor reduction by STN DBS and antiparkinsonian medication in elderly PD patients using an objective measuring system. ⋯ Thus, with regard to the advanced impact on the other parkinsonian symptoms, STN DBS can replace thalamic stimulation in this cohort of patients. Nevertheless, medication was still effective postoperatively and may act synergistically. The significantly superior efficacy of STN DBS on tremor amplitude and its impact on tremor frequency in contrast to medication might be explained by the influence of STN DBS on additional neural circuits independent from dopaminergic neurotransmission.
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Journal of neurology · Feb 2007
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialPatient preference in migraine therapy. A randomized, open-label, crossover clinical trial of acute treatment of migraine with oral almotriptan and rizatriptan.
To assess patient preference for almotriptan 12.5 mg vs rizatriptan 10 mg for the acute treatment of migraine. ⋯ Physicians should use information from meta-analyses and preference studies like this one to aid in the selection of a triptan with a high likelihood of providing rapid, sustained relief from pain coupled with an absence of AEs. About 55% of patients recording a preference in this trial preferred almotriptan, perhaps because of its combination of good efficacy and lower incidence of triptan-associated AEs.